A sans-UB cube that I made during quarantine to play with my partner. After searching for the best ways to implement a 2-player draft, I settled on the pancake draft (with 9 packs of 10 cards -- pick 1; pick 2, burn 2; pick 2, burn the remaining 3), and I tried to construct the cube with this format in mind. I've also been enjoying Grid drafting it with 2 players / against the bots of Cubecobra.

I was torn on how archetype-focused to make this cube, and I tried to straddle a fine line between having a high enough as-fan for each main mechanic and a sufficient number of generically good staples worth fighting over. I decided to limit the cube to 3 colours (and chose Naya because it's my partner's favourite colour combination as well as the colours I tend to draft the least frequently) in order to encourage more competition up until the very end of pack 9; I wanted every pick to matter as much as possible.

When choosing archetypes, I originally wished to replicate some of those typically found in blue and black in order to invoke a light Planar Chaos vibe. The Naya mainstays would be the predominant focus still, with Landfall and Tokens at the forefront, but by including some Spells Matter or Reanimator cards I wanted to showcase a side of RGW that isn't typically seen in standard 5-c low power cubes. Some of those "colour-shifted" themes didn't quite have the support to get there -- here's hoping they will one day! -- but their specters still haunt the list in inclusions such as Riddle of Lightning, Marshal's Anthem, Hans Eriksson.

With that said, the salient archetypes include:

Landfall
Overflows into maybe just as much as , but I tried to direct the guild colours towards Gruul as the representative of this mechanic. I enjoy the diversity in payoffs here, from simple +2/+2 combat buffs, to token generation, to a Phyrexian Arena stand-in.

Tokens
As above, each colour participates in this archetype, but I tried to place the identity mostly within Selesnya. There are many ways to take advantage of the fodder you create, with Brion Stoutarm + Growing Ranks being my favourite durdliest synergy of the bunch.

Prowess
Monastery Mentor and Young Pyromancer do some heavy lifting here. This was the archetype I really wanted to showcase in a -less Cube since can often hog the limelight for this theme. I would like to find more payoffs that aren't just 'trigger +1/+1 on a prowess creature'; I'm not sure if Guttersnipe is interesting enough but it probably deserves a chance to prove itself. Other possible additions include Wort, the Raidmother (too slow, perhaps), Backdraft Hellkite and Doublecast.

Flicker (with some synergies across the board)
In my peasant cube, Esper flicker is one of the strongest archetypes to draft (and my favourite). While we miss out on the all-star enablers like Soulherder or Venser, the Sojourner, mono- has plenty of play left with Angel of Condemnation and Blade Splicer. When we have Ephemerate paired with an off-colour Eternal Witness, who needs for Archaeomancer!
Vizier of Deferment is a trial-run Flickerwisp replacement to have more synergy with the Flash archetype, but I don't know if that crossover is really all that useful.

Flash
Nightpack Ambusher is a budget-friendly card and one that overperformed in many of my MtG: Arena Standard decks. It, Wildborn Preserver, Archangel Avacyn and Restoration Angel are the main draws here, with options like Briarhorn being a bit outdated to include just for its keyword. This archetype feels kind of gimmicky with the inclusion of Nightpack Ambusher, and I'd like to find more cards to more holistically support it. The main problem I see is that without Counterspells or a significant amount of threats to hold up during your opponent's turn, Flash looses much of its appeal. Maybe instant speed removal-that-also-advances-your-boardstate is needed here.

Burn and Boardwipes?
Red's mono colour identity is difficult for me describe succinctly, and it could probably use more tuning for synergy. It has cards such as Wildfire or Reality Scramble that can be deck defining, but those cards are often best in multicolour decks and don't really inform too many of my card inclusions. I did, however, try to give a larger share of the board wipes so its contribution to a control deck couldn't be as easily overwritten by .

And here are some of the lingering archetypes that I need to tinker with yet (there's just too much to fit in 180 cards, even with only 3 colours!):

+1/+1 counters
This archetype kinda faded to the backburner as I filled out the cube and I ran out of room before I could stuff in some explicit counter synergy. Ideally, I'd find cuts that would allow room for Proliferate and Conclave Mentor to be more exciting inclusions, but if the reward for +1/+1 counter synergy is just "an anthem effect, but bigger" then maybe that space should be put towards doing more interesting things. I tried to avoid infinite combos for now, but a persist deck (with Chord of Calling for some Flash synergy) could definitely work its way in if space allows.

Reanimator
I was hoping for a more direct theme with Miraculous Recovery or Resurrection alongside red's rummaging, but the cards seemed 1 or 2 mana too slow to justify for now.

"Aristocrats"
Threaten effects + sac outlets are always a joy to combine, and I really feel the need to add a Thud, Greater Gargadon or Zealous Conscripts just for the space it can open up during the draft. Finding 3 slots for this is on my priority list, but even then I'm not sure if the 'as-fan' is high enough to justify this, or if the sacrifice outlets and threaten effects are compelling enough in isolation.

Top deck matters
This still has a fairly strong presence, but it doesn't feel like an actual archetype with a notable, mechanically dependent payoff. Zoologist was that card originally, but Vizier of the Menagerie or Magus of the Order do similar things in a smoother way. Crown of Convergence used to be here to help with the top-deck manipulation, but I've replaced it with Lifecrafter's Bestiary for now.

Draw 2
I really want to include Jolrael, Mwonvuli Recluse and Irencrag Pyromancer, but beyond those two cards (and Mad Ratter) I couldn't find enough synergy to justify them without blue cantrips or stronger, non-parasitic payoffs. Keen Sense could be a consideration here, and Explore is a convenient fit, but 1CMC cantrips such as Adventurous Impulse or Oath of Nissa unfortunately don't proc the right trigger. Eventually, once I settle on a strong base for the cube, Jolrael will be one of the first pieces I try to work back in.

Lastly, some notable exclusions from the current iteration of the cube include:

Planeswalkers and Monarch -- These will likely make an appearance in a future update, but for now I wanted to avoid having these mechanics in an effort to minimize games that snowball too hard. If I can balance them so they contribute to the grindy back-and-forth play pattern I'm looking for, instead of overwhelming it, I'll definitely find a way to include some; maybe the Courts from Commander Legends, or PWs such as Nissa, Voice of Zendikar, Domri Rade, or Nahiri, the Harbinger.

Artifact/Enchantment synergy -- I'm quite undecided on how much to include here. Goblin Welder and Daretti, Scrap Servant (or Sram + Enchantresses + Auras + Heroic) would certainly fit the spirit of the list, but would require more space than I could find. Maybe I'll find a way to add a package for this kind of synergy in a future update once this version becomes stale.

When thinking about this this cube's future changes, I'm most unsure about the land/multicolour count (is it worth including a 3-colour payoff like Godsire or Ghired, conclave exile?) , and the Creature-Non-creature ratio (should I even bother including aggro/1-drop creatures?). As I figure out the answers to these questions and balance the cube so each colour combination feels equally fun and valid, I'm hoping to tune the power more towards flashy-big-synergies and fun-combos than a precise 1v1 knife fight (think Wort, the Raidmother over Bloodbraid Elf). Either way, dear reader, if you've made it this far I hope you decide to give this cube a draft and let me know what you found to be the most/least fun !